Quicksilva Software Solutions has released an application that mimics the messages generated by Connecting for Health’s data spine so that developers have a better chance of judging compliance before they go into official testing.
While Spine-in-a-Box is not intended to replace the ‘sandpit’ – the testing procedure made mandatory by Connecting for Health for all systems that communicate with its central database, the data spine – it emulates the spine’s security protocols and messages, allowing testers to check their own software’s responses and authentication.
Gayna Hart, managing director of Quicksilva, explained: "Meeting the rigorous CfH compliance guidelines can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Using Spine-in-a-Box removes compliance delays by allowing healthcare providers to carry out full testing and performance tuning before submitting their systems for certification."
Hart told E-Health Insider that the software should save developers time, as it would allow them to check their code before submitting it for official approval — something that could take a number of months. "One of the biggest hold-ups that we can see is that all applications have to be tested and proved by the NHS before they can connect. The biggest issue is getting time in the sandpit."
Spine-in-a-Box uses the public messaging protocols released by Connecting for Health, and is updated as the data spine develops. Any software under development that needs to communicate in HL7 can use the system, says Quicksilva – for instance, specialist social care software.
The system can also be configured to generate unexpected responses to fully gauge software functionality. Quicksilva say that four systems that had been tested on Spine-in-a-Box have now been certified as compliant by CfH.
The software is currently set up to mimic electronic transmission of prescriptions. Modules that emulate the Personal Demographics Service and Choose and Book are currently under development.
Quicksilva, based in Wiltshire, also produce Spinal Tap, a program that acts as a broker between existing applications such as central pharmacy systems and the data spine. The software has been deployed by Boots in order to allow its dispensing pharmacies to receive electronic transfers of prescriptions.
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